


dancing in the dark, with you between my arms

by MissMorphine



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Dancing, First Kiss, M/M, Sylvain taught Felix how to dance and no one can tell me otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 04:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20383717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMorphine/pseuds/MissMorphine
Summary: “Do you remember when we were kids,” Sylvain started, “and you were too scared to dance with any of the girls during dance lessons?” Felix groaned and tried to elbow Sylvain again, but this time the other boy was quick enough to dodge. He laughed, and Felix glared, feeling his face growing hot.“I was not scared to dance with the girls,” growled Felix. “I didn’t want to dance with any of them.”Felix leaves the ball to get away from the dancing. Sylvain follows him and gets him to dance anyway.





	dancing in the dark, with you between my arms

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" because I'm basic af

Felix could still hear the sound of the orchestra playing despite the two sets of doors separating him from the ballroom. He didn’t personally understand why Garreg Mach needed a full orchestra for a ball -- or why they needed a ball at all -- but he knew that nobles like Ferdinand von Aegir and Lorenz Hellman Gloucester would insist on nothing less than extravagance. Felix had put up with enough dancing for the night; he hadn’t been onto the dance floor once, goddess be praised, but he had to suffer through watching Sylvain flit from girl to girl.

The courtyard was filled with students traipsing in and out, looking to catch a breath of fresh air before diving back into the ball. Unwilling to deal with all the giggling and festivities that lit up the courtyard, Felix had chosen to escape to the bridge to the cathedral.

“Felix!” A familiar voice called out. “Found you!” Felix turned, not at all surprised to see Sylvain approaching. He expected that Sylvain was probably looking for Felix to be his wingman in scoring a dance with yet another girl. “I thought you might’ve snuck out to the training grounds.” He leaned against the stone ledge, standing next to Felix. The night was lit only by the stars and the few lanterns strewn across the bridge.

“They’re locked,” retorted Felix. “Apparently, they expect that anyone going to the training grounds or anywhere else in the monastery tonight would be going for less than savory reasons.” Sylvain’s grin at the implication was enough for Felix to shove his elbow into the other boy’s side. Sylvain whined, but Felix wasn’t bothered by it.

Music continued to play from within the ballroom. Felix was waiting for whatever ridiculous request Sylvain had for him, but it never came. The redhead was unusually quiet as he looked toward the horizon; he turned to look at Felix with a gentle expression on his face -- so gentle that Felix felt the need to look away.

“Shouldn’t you be inside pestering some girl to dance with you?” asked Felix. He cursed himself for breaking the peace of the moment. He’d gone outside so that he wouldn’t have to think about Sylvain dancing with a girl, yet there he was, telling Sylvain to go dance with someone.

“How come you haven’t danced at all tonight?” asked Sylvain in reply. Felix raised an eyebrow. “After all the lessons we took together, I know that you know how to dance.”

“Knowing how to dance and liking it are two very different things,” scoffed Felix.

“Do you remember when we were kids,” Sylvain started, “and you were too scared to dance with any of the girls during dance lessons?” Felix groaned and tried to elbow Sylvain again, but this time the other boy was quick enough to dodge. He laughed, and Felix glared, feeling his face growing hot.

“I was not scared to dance with the girls,” growled Felix. “I didn’t _want_ to dance with any of them.” Felix had despised etiquette training -- he had much preferred learning fighting and weaponry -- but dance lessons had been one of his least favorite activities. He had often tried to sneak out during lessons, but he was rarely successful at that; mostly, he would steal away to the back of the parlor and refuse anyone’s request to dance with him. The instructors gave up fairly quickly on convincing him to participate.

“Okay, okay…” Sylvain placated with a laugh. “You have to admit though, that I’m the only reason you know how to dance.” Felix grumbled, but he reluctantly agreed. Felix was too proud to look like a fool in front of everyone, so Sylvain would wait until everyone else had left before dragging Felix out onto the dance floor and teaching him the steps.

In the beginning, Felix had been too stiff and stepped on Sylvain’s toes on more than one occasion -- but Sylvain never told anyone how awful Felix was. He would just patiently guide Felix through the steps until the younger boy finally achieved some semblance of gracefulness.

“Dance with me,” whispered Sylvain as he held out his hand. “For old time’s sake.” Felix stared at Sylvain’s hand warily before looking up to see Sylvain staring earnestly at him. He placed his hand on top of Sylvain’s arm, trying not to let the other boy see how rattled he felt.

Felix felt like he was thirteen again, remembering how it felt to be pressed up against Sylvain. He remembered how his heart would race every time Sylvain brought him into a dance and how he thought something was wrong with him until he heard Sylvain talking about how his girl of the week made his heart beat faster. He had stopped attending dance lessons entirely after coming to the realization that he felt the same for Sylvain that Sylvain felt for the girls he dated.

“Nothing too complicated,” grumbled Felix, though there was no heat behind his words. His heart beat traitorously as Sylvain’s hand rested on his waist. Sylvain’s other hand reached out to grasp Felix’s hand and intertwine their fingers together. Sylvain took the lead, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary; he had almost always taken the lead when they would dance together. In hindsight, Felix recognized that he didn’t learn very much about how to dance with anyone except Sylvain.

Feelings that Felix had tried to bury were coming up to the surface, and Felix was grateful for the low light that hid the blush that was certainly dusting his cheeks. He kept his eyes trained on their feet, making sure that he didn’t step on Sylvain’s toes.

“Eyes up here,” Sylvain murmured in Felix’s ear. “I know I taught you better than that.” Felix’s eyes snapped up, but whatever retort he was planning on saying died on his lips as he noticed how close Sylvain’s face was to his. Sylvain held Felix’s gaze as they began to step in time with the music.

“If I step on your toes, you only have yourself to blame,” Felix muttered. He allowed Sylvain to guide him through the steps that he just barely remembered. Sylvain’s grip on Felix’s waist grew firmer, and Felix allowed himself to be pulled closer. They were far closer than etiquette would deem appropriate.

Sylvain’s hand glided its way up from Felix’s waist to his hair. Felix barely caught that Sylvain had asked him something -- too lost in the moment of dancing with Sylvain -- and he nodded his agreement to whatever Sylvain was asking. Sylvain tugged gently at the tie keeping Felix’s hair in place, and Felix felt his hair cascading down onto his shoulders. He closed his eyes and tried not to shudder as Sylvain’s fingers combed through his hair.

Sylvain’s hand found its way to the small of Felix’s back, and Felix slid his hand up to rest at the nape of Sylvain’s neck. Their feet continued to step in time, and they slowly rotated around the cobblestone path. Felix’s heart was still beating wildly in his chest, and he suspected that it wasn’t going to slow until well after Sylvain had left.

The music began to slow before coming to a stop. Dimly, Felix recognized that the instrumentalists needed a break. He had expected that Sylvain would release him and go back to the ball now that the song had ended, but Sylvain had continued their dance to a beat only he could hear.

Another song had started, and Sylvain adjusted the rhythm to match the new song. Then another song started, and eventually Felix lost track of how many songs they had danced through. Somewhere along the line, Felix had stopped feeling stiff and was moving fluidly with Sylvain.

Felix dropped the hand that was holding Sylvain’s and allowed himself to rest his cheek against Sylvain’s chest. He knew that he was in better shape than Sylvain; he didn’t know how he could be so exhausted when Sylvain looked like he could still continue dancing all night. Perhaps there was a different stamina involved in dancing than there was in training.

“Felix?” asked Sylvain. Embarrassed at how close he’d allowed himself to get, Felix picked his head up from Sylvain’s chest and attempted to pull himself away from the other boy, but Sylvain’s hand was still firmly holding onto his waist. Felix felt his face growing flushed.

Sylvain reached up with his free hand to cup Felix’s cheek and tilt his face upwards. Felix wanted to tear himself away -- wanted to break the training room doors open and hit something until he didn’t feel anything anymore -- but he couldn’t move. His body betrayed him; the desire that his mind had tried to keep buried for far too long had Felix rooted to the ground.

Sylvain leaned down to press his lips against Felix’s. Felix’s eyes fluttered shut, and he focused on the feeling of Sylvain’s soft lips against his own. Just as with dancing, Sylvain was far more experienced with kissing than Felix, and Felix allowed Sylvain to take the lead for now.

Felix tilted his head to mirror Sylvain, who had tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss. Sylvain’s tongue swept across Felix’s lower lip, causing Felix to gasp, before darting into Felix’s mouth. Felix pressed his tongue against Sylvain’s tentatively, exploring how it felt.

The kiss broke with a gasp from both boys, and Sylvain began to press kisses along Felix’s jawline and down his neck. Felix’s hands found their way into Sylvain’s hair as Sylvain pushed away Felix’s shirt to latch his lips onto the base of his neck. Felix bit his lip to keep himself from making noise as Sylvain began to kiss and suck at the sensitive flesh.

There was sure to be a mark on Felix’s neck in the morning, but Felix wasn’t concerned about anything other than the feeling of Sylvain’s mouth on him. He grabbed Sylvain’s face and pulled him back up into another kiss. Felix took the lead, despite how clumsy he felt in comparison to Sylvain’s experienced movements. Felix tugged gently on Sylvain’s lower lip and was rewarded with a low groan from Sylvain. Feeling bolder, Felix broke off the kiss to mimic the ministrations Sylvain had done to his neck.

“Come with me to the goddess tower.” The words had tumbled out of Felix’s mouth before he could stop them. Felix didn’t even believe in superstitious legends like the one surrounding the goddess tower, but that didn’t stop him from holding his breath as he waited for Sylvain to reply.

“There’s no one else I’d rather go with,” Sylvain whispered in Felix’s ear as he reached out to grasp Felix’s hand. His heart skipping a beat, Felix laced their fingers together as they walked together toward the goddess tower.

**Author's Note:**

> And then they all lived happily ever after and nothing bad happened the next day.


End file.
